However, a public panic over power outages or other off-campus industry failures still could pose an indirect threat to any Y2K-compliant institution, said Kirk Bertram, director of the UGA Millennium Readiness Office.

''The situation that will hurt us most is that the uninformed public will simply panic based on something that we see and hear,'' sparking possible bank runs or overloaded telecommunication systems that could set back campus operations, Bertram said.

Over the last 16 months, the university has been working to safeguard itself against any such problems within its boundaries. Planners have tested more than 62,000 pieces of equipment and spent more than $2.4 million readying the state's largest university for the millennium bug, or old computer code that can't properly assess dates after Dec. 31, 1999.

The Y2K bug has raised fears worldwide about everything from mid-air plane crashes to lost Social Security checks and faulty drug prescriptions.

Some areas of campus have spent themselves into compliance. The biggest ticket item to come from the university's Y2K preparation is a new $1.3 million computer system at the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine, needed to update the school's ''antique'' computer system handling medical records, drug stocks and bills, said Bertram, speaking at campus media briefing. The system was upgraded for Y2K but needed general upgrading anyway.

Concerned about losing research data and grants, university researchers nationwide are also taking steps to hold computer vendors accountable if computer systems crash and set back important grant-based research.

Though the university feels ready now for Jan. 1, mass failures in outside industries, such as oil shipping, would obviously hurt university operations. And there are some internal shortfalls in readiness as well, Bertram said. The Athens campus has no water reserves and only 20 backup power generators -- not enough to secure every building on the 43,000-acre campus in the event of power loss.

''There are decades of research in these low-temperature freezers'' around campus, and not all are backed up with the emergency power systems, Bertram said.

The university can't purchase any more at this point. Professors concerned about perishable or hazardous research materials will simply have to share freezer space in January with labs backed up by fuel-burning generators.

Other problems without immediate answers will be addressed at a brainstorming session at the university in late October. The Athens-Clarke County government and the university will be looking at establishing a war room to handle the influx of questions and problems after Jan. 1.

''How do you pump fuel if you don't have power?'' he asked. ''If you can't fuel the buses how do you move your students?''

What about payment for extra work done by employees restarting any failed university operations in January? ''They'll work out a fair solution,'' UGA spokesman Tom Jackson said. ''The governor would have to make a state decision.''

Luckily, Jackson said any kinks in UGA operations should be worked out before classes resume next year on Jan. 10.